1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of diagnostic assay using a protein or an antibody thereto.
2. Description of the Related Art
Stroke has the third highest death-rate in industrial countries. It results from either a permanent or a transient reduction in cerebral blood flow. This reduction in flow is, in most cases, caused by the arterial occlusion due to either an embolus or a local thrombosis. Depending on the localisation of brain injury and the intensity of necrosed neurones, stroke symptoms can become a life handicap for patients and the death rate from stroke events approaches 30%.
Recently, S100B was described as a potential biochemical marker for stroke diagnosis, see U. Missler et al., “S100 protein and neuron-specific enolase concentrations in blood as indicators of infarct volume and prognosis in acute ischemia stroke”, Stroke 1997; 28:1956-60. However, S100B has also been reported as a useful marker for early detection of metastases of melanoma and cerebral complications from head injury and cardiac surgery. Thus, the sensitivity and specificity of the S100B test were limited to 44% and 67%, respectively, see M. Takahashi et al., “Rapid and sensitive immunoassay for the measurement of serum S100B using isoform-specific monoclonal antibody”, Clin. Chem. 1999; 45:1307-11. Development of new stroke markers would help clinicians to establish early diagnosis and thus to avoid a potential relapse of the patient.